The present invention relates generally to the construction and styling of dispenser apparatus for home care and beauty aids which are provided in collapsible or compressible tubes. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of air pressure in order to compress or collapse such tubes for the automatic dispensing of a portion of the contents.
The concern over the dispensing of home care products and beauty aids is not necessarily a new concern. Since dispensing devices have a certain appeal, not merely for the uniqueness of the gadgetry that may be involved, but for some very logical and practical reasons, a number of dispenser styles have been conceived. On the practical side of things, dispensing devices should offer convenience, maintenance of sanitary conditions, ease in dispensing, control in the amount dispensed and optimal utilization of the contents. Optimal utilization of the product being dispensed is mentioned in part due to the existence of aluminum (or similar soft metal) toothpaste tubes which offer one of the more troublesome dispensing challenges. There simply is no convenient and effective way to completely empty the tubes, and while a number of attempts have been made as evidenced by the patent references listed below, there does not presently exist a suitable device. Representative of attempts at dispensing the contents from aluminum tubes are the following references:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ 3,257,039 Trutza 3,860,147 Vessio et al. 4,226,336 Young 3,738,533 Bertrand 1,207,534 Gammeter 2,496,004 Geyer ______________________________________
Trutza discloses a tube dispenser of the type which includes two serrated rollers supported on parallel shafts and disposed on opposite sides of the tube which is retained within a housing and whose outlet end extends through a lower end of the housing. The two parallel shafts are drawn together at each end by spring arrangements thereby allowing some movement, yet retaining the two rollers in a parallel relationship to each other and suitably arranged to compress the tube as they move downwardly along the length of the tube. Downward movement is initiated by a hand lever and a pair of diametrically opposite pins that slidably ride in elongated slots on opposite sides of the housing. This movement mechanism can generally be considered as indexing or ratcheting type of movement, but it is manual in nature and it does employ somewhat involved mechanical parts and linkages for its successful operation.
Vessio discloses a dental hygiene dispenser which is mountable on a wall for dispensing a dentifrice onto a toothbrush. This particular device employs a pair of threaded rods which extend in a direction substantially parallel to the tube and on opposite sides of the tube. A pair of rollers is rotatably mounted on a carriage having portions which are threadedly received by the threaded rod and are turnable by a gear mechanism which is affixed to the ends of the threaded rods. A projection extending through the housing is employed as the means to turn the threaded rods and rotation of these rods in turn forces the roller arrangement to pass across the outer surfaces of the tube thereby collapsing the tube and enabling the discharge of the contents of the tube. Again, this device is manual in nature and employs an extensive arrangement of gears and linkages comprising a large volume of machined parts greatly adding to the overall cost.
Young discloses an apparatus for dispensing the contents of a tube and its overall mechanical configuration is somewat similar to that disclosed by the Vessio reference. In Young, a pair of rollers is carried by a movable platen whose ends are received by a pair of rack bars suitably supported for reciprocal movement within the housing. Manual pressure on the platen creates incremental movement that depresses the contents of the tube through a spout device enabling discharge of the tube contents.
Bertrand discloses a motorized collapsible tube dispenser which is electrically operated and designed for the dispensing of products such as toothpaste and shaving cream. The device includes an enclosure in which the tube is suspended by a space and its contents are discharged at the bottom of the enclosure. Squeezing pressure upon the tube is provided by a pair rollers which travels downward on both sides of the tube and which is activated by means of an electric motor. This particular device is believed to be an improvement over the prior devices in that it has avoided the manual aspect, by going to an electric motor, and has reduced some of the mechanical complexity. However, the device is still believed to be mechanically complex due to the fact that the motor output must be coupled to other mechanical linkage and drive members by means of the gear arrangement. As is well known, the cost of such gearing can quickly make the product prohibitive as an economical consumer device. In addition to the gear cost and the machine parts which are required, the electric motor adds additional cost to the device over what would be present with manual systems.
Gammeter discloses a fire extinguisher and while the subject matter may be somewhat remote from the present invention, it is nevertheless disclosed for its roller and linkage arrangement which is employed to compress and squeeze the sides of a tube in which the fire-extinguishing medium is contained. Again, this manual type of linkage with the opposing type of rollers is very similar to the other devices previously mentioned, and the Gammeter disclosure does not offer anything particularly new over those prior disclosures.
Geyer discloses a dispensing apparatus of the type which is adapted to be associated with a collapsible tube containing toothpaste or similar contents. The device employs a slightly different roller arrangement wherein there is one main roller and two secondary rollers on the opposite sides of the tube, and the rollers are drawn across the sides of the tube by a fairly involved sprocket and chain linkage arrangement as well as a ratchet wheel and associated mechanical components. This particular device may be one of the most mechanically complicated of all those listed and offers nothing new as to the general concept of moving a pair of rollers across and downwardly the sides of the tube so as to compress or collapse that tube and discharge a portion of its contents.
Recently certain cosmetic items, as well as toothpaste, have been packaged in flexible tubes made of a resilient, synthetic compound. This changeover from metal tubes means that many of the previously conceived devices are either unworkable or grossly over-complicated for the task at hand. With these flexible and resilient synthetic tubes, significantly less compressive or squeezing force is needed in order to squeeze out a portion of the contents of those tubes. Comparing similarly sized and shaped metal tubes with the synthetic tubes, one quickly realizes that the level of force required is significantly reduced, and the resilient characteristics of the newer tubes creates some different concerns with regard to the mechanism that is used to dispense the contents. It should also be understood that since the plastic (synthetic) tubes are resilient, all that is required is to apply more pressure to the sides of the tube as the contents are discharged.
By simplifying and/or reducing the number of complex and expensive machine parts, elimination of gears, threaded rods and the like, improvements can be made to the devices disclosed by the above-listed patents. Such improvements are provided by the present invention which employs a sealed chamber into which the tube is placed and an air pump communicating with that chamber wherein the buildup of air pressure is used to compress the side walls of the tube and thereby discharge the contents of the tube. As the amount within the tube decreases, the amount of air pressure needed to effectively dispense the contents increases slightly, but the unit is completely automatic, necessitating only the pushing of a button to activate the air pump and dispense the contents.
An alternative embodiment of the present invention uses the same air pressure concept but as opposed to directly collapsing the side walls of the tube by the air pressure, a roller plate arrangement which has a tube-receiving slot centrally positioned therein is pushed downwardly in the longitudinal direction of the tube. This type of an arrangement effectively utilizes the beneficial aspects of air pressure but is suitable for metal tubes which may still exist in the marketplace. Although it uses a roller and compression concept, it is able to eliminate a majority of the mechanical complexity and cost by utilizing air pressure. While this approach may appear similar to the older mechanical styles, the device is an improvement not only from the convenience but also from the cost aspect.